Tamarack sprouts

Tamarack, the first new U.S. destination snow sports resort to open in 22 years, has opened, bringing the promise of renewed sports interest and business opportunities to central Idaho.

The snow sports area, approximately 100 miles north of Boise, offers 25 downhill runs, accessible eventually via five lifts, including the newly installed Tamarack Express and Summit Express, high-speed detachable quads, which carry skiers and riders to Tamarack's 7,700-foot summit and provide a continuous 2,800-vertical-foot descent to the base area.

The mix of terrain is suited for skiers, boarders and families of varying abilities. Free-riders and snowboarders have a 500-foot super pipe and 10-acre terrain park, complete with jib yard, among the first in the Pacific Northwest. For the Nordic and backcountry skier, Tamarack offers a full-service Nordic ski park, complete with 30 kilometers of ski trails, varied groomed and ungroomed snowshoe itineraries, as well as hundreds of acres of backcountry skiing.

How Tamarack came about it illustrative of how the snow sports industry has changed since Beaver Creek was launched in Avon, CO, back in the 1980s.

trail mapThe French-led organization developing the multi-season resort succeeded where two other endeavors failed in the past 15 years because of a unique lease of state lands for the snow sports area and two successful land sales making available funds for the $52 million project.

The key to French businessman Jean-Pierre Boespflug’s development was two hugely successful land sales. The first, 104 parcels west of pristine Lake Cascade that sold for $46 million in mid-January of 2004, constituted the largest ever resort-home site launch in North America.

"After three years of hard work and shareholder investments of $75 million for permitting, planning and infrastructure construction, Tamarack has just made a rapid transition from a vision to a spectacular reality, " said Rory Veal, vice president of Real Estate Sales. "What is most exciting for us is that our buyers come both from Idaho and the rest of the country making us both a destination resort and a place for Idahoans to play. They share a common love of the outdoors, a sense of community and an appreciation for quality service, which matches our vision of what Tamarack is now becoming."

tamarack runBuyers from Idaho, California and Georgia snapped up the resort’s remaining 64 parcels in June of 2004, raising approximately an additional $33.4 million

The land sales made possible $52 million in construction projects during the summer of 2004, including installation of two detachable quad chairlifts, a four-story, 60,000-square-foot lodge, 60 cottages, chalets and private homes, golf-course finishing work, and the erection of the 30, 000-square-foot Discovery Village, which will houses Tamarack's skier services.

Intrawest Golf, based in Scottsdale, AZ, brought clout to the resort’s plans by agreeing to oversee development of Tamarack's Robert Trent Jones II-designed golf course and manage resort operations. Golf course development began in 2003 with a planned opening in May.

The resort’s previous two incarnations were unsuccessful largely because of problems in securing necessary environmental clearances for federal lands that were to be part of the snow sports area. Boespflug’s organization avoided that issue by using an L-shaped layout that uses only state-owned mountain terrain and a former ranch purchased by Boespflug that comprises much of the resort’s residential area and its golf course.

The snowsports resort became a reality with the unanimous approval by the Idaho state senate of a 49-year lease extension for necessary state-owned mountain lands on April 2, 2003. The previous May, the Idaho Land Board - comprised of the governor, the attorney general, the secretary of state, the controller and the superintendent of public instruction - voted to approve a lease of approximately 2, 100 acres of state land for the resort.

Much of the resort’s allure comes from its location in the Salmon River Mountains of central Idaho adjacent to Cascade Reservoir, an idyllic lake bordered by the towns of Donnelly and Cascade, the latter of which has seen an economic downturn ever since its Boise-Cascade lumber mill closed years ago.

Even before Tamarack was assured of funding, a mountain bike park, guided lake kayaking and a lake motor cruise program began in the spring of 2004 following the introduction of snowshoe tours and snow-cat back-country ski outings during the winter.

Preparatory construction in 2002 focused on providing environmentally sound access to the property and implementing riparian area protections agreed upon with various agencies and permitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It also opened a 20-kilometer network of cross-country ski trails, offering nordic ski rentals, a heated yurt and groomed trails

Tamarack completed five environmental improvement initiatives in during that year. Two involved restoring riparian vegetation along Poison Creek and Rock Creek, two tributaries of Lake Cascade, and creating trout-spawning areas for wild rainbow trout – financed by the resort's investment of $150,000.

Cattle grazing was eliminated in the area, allowing streams at the base area to rebound for the benefit of fish and wildlife. Silt fences, straw bales and other streambank-restoration work reduced soil erosion into Lake Cascade, a well-documented concern in the upper Payette River watershed.

A 2.5-acre pond in the Robert Trent Jones Jr. 18-hole golf course now serves as a catchment basin for stormwater runoff. An island constructed in the pond created nesting habitat for geese and ducks. The pond also was to be stocked with trout.

Copyright Gary Olson 2010 First appeared in Snow Scene